24 Hours of Travel

In typical fashion, our train to Kolkata was delayed by two hours, but we found seats in the "womens waiting room" where an older Indian couple from our hotel were sitting. They kept us entertained for two hours telling us about their kids (in Chicago), and debating health care systems around the world. They have travelled through North America and Europe, but not through India, so they were taking this trip to see their country. At one point the husband reccomended the coffee at the resturaunt around the corner, so Scott went to get us some. After a few minutes the husband went to check on Scott and found (gasp!) that they were serving Scott the coffee in plastic cups. He promptly corrected the mistake and Scott came back to the waiting room with two cups of coffee in bone china on a serving tray - the way coffee was meant to be had!

For this train ride, we upgraded to the 2AC compartment, substantially better than our previous trip on sleeper class. There are only 2 beds on a wall, versus the 3 bed "sandwich system" our Indian friends refer to with much disdain. The traffic is a bit more controlled in these cars, so we avoided the problem of having 15 guys jump on the train and squish into our seats,and best of all they provide you with bedding. In the evening, a guy comes around and hands you a brown paper package (unfortunately, not tied up with string) that contains 2 fresh white starched sheets, a towel, a wool blanket and a pillow. Lovely. Gone are the days of shivering through the night trying to use our backpacks as pillows. Yes, we are getting wimpy. These cars also have a pantry attached to them, so there is a consistent flow of food and snacks available - chai, coffee, tomato soup, hot plate meals (rice and a few different curries), packages of biscuits, cake, and chips, and the ubiquitous "veg cutlet" (a spicy hashbrown - see photo left). Added bonus, each bed has a curtain to pull around it,which means you can actually sleep in privacy - well sort of. I was rudely awakened by the shrill cry of "veeeg cutleeeeeet" far too close to my face at 6 in the morning. The over achieving veg cutlet salesman found he did better business by sticking his head under everbody's curtains. I still hear the call in my dreams... Overall though, a much better trip.

Upon arriving in crazy Kolkata Howrah station, we bought tickets for a commuter train to Bendal, a neighboring community. FYI, if you ever need to buy local train tickets, avoid the chaotic masses by joining the women's only ticket line. It's revolutionary - a nice straight single file line that moves efficiently and requires no pushing, shoving or yelling. Maybe women should be running a few more things around here. Unfortunately we had our share of pushing, shoving and yelling over the next hour and a half on the train, crammed with many others in a small standing space, while a continuous stream of hawkers forced their way through the crowds selling just what you want in such circumstances - combs, sweets, socks, whistling balloons, tomatoes, popcorn, locksets, etc. Did we mention the roving karaoke performer who hooked up a large speaker and pushed through the crowds with a microphone?

From Bendal, we managed to phone Hav's aunt and uncle (Dale and Adele) for directions to their house. We had to catch a bus with the loudest horn we have ever heard (Scott pulled out the florescent orange earplugs for the occasion) for another hour and a half. 24 hours later, almost to the minute we finally met Adele and Jesse at "central park" Kalyani.